Lifelong Learners: Busy Bee Baby Boomers

Well, hard to believe summer is over and autumn is right around the corner. Haven’t been writing here for a bit…other projects have taken over of late. That’s what happens sometimes with lifelong learners – there may be benefits to postponing retirement!

It would be nice to say “it’s summertime and the livin’ is easy”, and I was vacationing since June, but that is definitely notthe case. Like many other baby boomers, we work. We work at work, and then we work some more when we get home. Not a bad thing…always been a ‘worker bee” anyway, but at this time in life it’s probably more than we’d anticipated being committed to.

The facts are the facts. In 1991, half of all American workers planned to retire before they reached the age of 65. Today that number is just 23%.

Many people (myself included) intend to work till they drop. For people who are addicted to being lifelong learners and staying younger than their years, work is just an exercise routine: physical, emotional, spiritual.

The work itself can be a lot of things to a lot of different people. It can be your lifelong career extended. It can be caring for your grandkids, volunteering somewhere that you can be of help to others, or even the development of a passion for a hobby of some sort like geneaology. Doesn’t matter. As Emerson said so eloquently, “Life is a journey, not a destination”, a concept that becomes more valid with every passing day.

So…here’s to hustling along as busy bee baby boomers for as long as it takes!